Arcanum Heroes Sneak Peek: Roaring X-Mas Past
by RunnerAwaker
Summary: It's Christmas time in the world of Arcanum and the KDA is really getting into the spirit. However, when a mystery villain wields a ray that turns everything (and everyone) it zaps back into the Roaring Twenties (figuratively of course), its up to the Shadow Brigade to undo his untimely ho-ho-horrors. Sneak Peak!
1. Part 1 -Situation-

_A/N: Happy Holidays readers! Here's a special sneak peak holiday special for one of our upcoming fics in 2016! Enjoy!_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _We don't own Pokemon or Totally Spies except our OCs! They belong to Nintendo and Marathon Media respectively!_

 **Arcanum Heroes: Beyond Arcanum Sneak Peek**

 **Roaring X-mas Past: Part 1  
**

It was seven days before Christmas in the world of Arcanum, and holiday shoppers were busy trying to get the presents they desired. At one store a young woman walked out carrying a shopping bag and talking on her cell phone.

"Yeah, the holiday rush is murder, but you should see the boots I just got. They match the necklace and shirt I got last year. I could put together a real holiday ensemble," she said.

But as she turned the corner into an alley, she saw something that made her stop and gasp. Before she could react, she screamed as she was zapped by a beam and her shopping bag flew into the air…

* * *

At the city of Manila, seven kids are decorating their apartments in preparations for the holidays, but in their own style. A young boy wearing a green cap backwards, dark green hoodie shirt, green shorts, green and black fingerless gloves, and green high top sneakers and socks threw some chestnuts in the air and released a small green fire blast from his palms to roast them as they landed onto a basket he readied beforehand.

Another young boy wearing glasses, a light blue vest and wristbands, grey and white shirt, turquoise pants, blue sneakers and socks wove his hands in the air and caused the illusion of the being red, white, and green stars floating in the air around his apartment.

Another young boy wearing a black and purple jacket, purple pants and sneakers snapped his fingers and shadows around the room hung wreaths, lights, and other decorations all around his apartment.

Another young boy wearing a blue fedora-like hat, black and blue vest and armbands, black shirt and pants, and blue and white sneakers raised his hand and created a Christmas-colored aurora that floated above.

A young girl with long black hair in a ponytail, and wearing a white short vest, black and green shirt, light green pants, and green sneakers blew a strong gust of wind and sent ornaments flying onto the Christmas tree.

Another young girl with long, let-down, blonde hair, and wearing a blue headband, long shirt, and fingerless gloves, black and grey shorts, dark blue socks, and white and blue sneakers used her hands and created a small blizzard that blew snow all over the tree.

And a certain **-Black Detective-** himself finished the job by putting the star on top of the tree.

As they were finished when they fell on the sofas to rest, Whitney came in with a tray of some gingerbeard cookies shaped like Poke Balls and said, "Wow, a few days more to go before Christmas. Hey, Tal, Eran, Ren, Nal, Cai, Allia, I bet you guys can't wait for the big day, cause I know I can't. By the way, cookies anyone?"

"Yeah, I can't wait for the big carol fest in the city square!," Cai said.

"I can't wait for the big Christmas at the KDA," Nal added.

"Which I am headlining," Blake cut in.

"And I can't wait for the Christmas special, _It's a Fruitiful Life_ ," Ren said. "It's my favorite holiday special of all time."

"Just one question though, did all of you bought presents for your family?"

As soon Whitney asked that question, the kids froze in horror, realizing that they didn't think about it until now. While they looked like kids, they are actually not.

You see, they were actually the Pokémon professors, in kid forms. This was because months earlier, they along with Professor Oak, aka Blake Nova had discovered the world of Illuriya via a portal, and as a result were granted their own special powers and new child forms just like Oak/Blake had been given. Since then they had become a vital part of the Knight's Detective Agency, known as the Shadow Brigade.

"Oh my gosh, we totally forgot!," Allia gasped. "We can't show up empty handed like this!"

''Then there's only one thing to do," Whitney said. "It's time for a…"

"Last minute shopping spree!," the girls all said together.

"Oh, no! Absolutely not!," Tal snapped. "Not again, especially today!"

"Why not?," Cai asked.

"Because every time we do one of those shopping sprees, you always over do it and leave us to carry the heavy stuff, that's why!"

"Because it's courteous, that's why," Allia said. "Besides we have to get presents for the rest of the guys."

"Forget it, if you want to go crazy shopping, you three go ahead," Eran snapped.

"Meanwhile, we're gonna go to HQ and see how they doing with the celebrations over there," Ren said.

"So see ya later, shop-inators!," Blake added.

Unfortunately for the boys when they are about to leave for work, the door was blocked by Whitney's spear, which much to their horror, saw her in a fiery aura around her.

" _No you're not! You are going shopping with us! You are going to pick out presents for your family, you are going to be courteous and carry our heavy stuff, and you're not going to complain even one bit!_ _ **YOU GOT THAT?!**_ "

"Y-y-yes, ma'am!," the boys said terrified.

As the boys stood terrified at Whitney, the girls chuckled at this as Allia said, "Guess we don't have to worry about those heavy shopping bags, huh?"

"You said it," Cai said.

* * *

Meanwhile at Davao, the shoppers were busy with finding some presents for their loved ones for the upcoming holidays while the kids were happily finding toys and staring at the Christmas decorations in awe.

However, not everyone was happy. In the private OFW lounge, a 21 years old blonde-haired woman with glasses, blue polo shirt, and black pants is suspiciously glaring at a middle-aged man with a light green dress shirt, grey dress pants, and black shoes who is doing the same to her. As this occurs a few minutes, it was interrupted when a young boy spoke up, "Hey, are you going to say hi or you two glare like hungry hyenas?"

Unlike the two, the boy had wolf ears on his messy black hair and tail that was unseen by ordinary people and wore a black hoodie, silver shirt, blue and black fingerless gloves, black pants, and navy blue boots. That's because he was a Luna Lobo, a member of a tribe of werewolves living in a village in Arcanum who joined KDA after he stayed in Veronica's home to learn more about the modern world.

Startled, Veronica quickly defends herself and said, "Hey, we're not glaring! W-We're just nervous at speaking each other after all these years."

"Yeah, right," the young boy said, not believing her excuse. "I heard you guys were partners back in your -Legendary 7- days, so why are you guys are acting like strangers?"

"Well kiddo, our relationship wasn't exactly what you'd call…'endearing'," the man said. "By the way, I'm Brian, Brian Deaks."

"Noah, Noah Rix," the boy introduced himself.

"Yeah, well things wouldn't have been so frosty in our relationship, if not for that incident during that mission in Monaco a few years ago!," Veronica snapped before turning to Noah. "After that it was all downhill from there for us."

"Hey, if anyone was to blame for that, it's your fault and you know it!," Brain snapped back before the two growled at each other.

Knowing that they still don't want to hang out with each other, Noah growled in annoyance and said, "Luckily, since it's Luna Gifting, which you humans call "Christmas", I got a right charm and spell just for this season you two can get along together."

As he said this, he pulled out handcuff-like bracelet that is made of flowers and glitters. Although Brian was confused at the object, Veronica somehow realized what it was and asks, "Please don't tell us you're going to chain us together like prisoners?!"

"Nope, it's a Reuniting Chain. If you wear this with a friend or relative and a Lunar Wolf reciting the spell, you have a chance to get to know each other and re-link your bonds once more," Noah explained.

"Hah! Please, no offense kid, but we've been estranged for years, it would take more than a spell to cleanse the bad blood we've had between us."

"He's right. Although you guys have a different tradition than ours, I doubt this would keep us together," Veronica added.

Suddenly, Noah put the chain on their hands together as he said, "Don't worry, the chain will vanish when I finish reciting the spell. Plus, it only give you a higher chance to a life-changing event, not binding you two literally."

Noah then started to say words of his people and do mysterious movements in reciting the spell. Both soon caught the attention of most people in the mall, who began to gather and stare, much to Veronica and Brian's embarrassment.

"Uh, Noah," Veronica asked. "Would you tone it down a little, please?"

"Yeah, could ya keep it on the down-low, people are starting to stare at us," Brian added.

Noah continued dancing and reciting, until he finally finished.

"There, all done," he said.

With the spell completely recited, the Reuniting Chain disappeared as he predicted and two moon symbols appeared on Veronica and Brian's wrist where the chain was.

"What do you know? He's right about the chain disappearing," Brian said in surprise.

"But I still don't believe about this life-changing event you're talking about, Noah," Veronica said in suspicion.

"Don't worry, guys. Just give it a few minutes to work," Noah said.

"I'm telling you Noah, it's not gonna-," Veronica started to say. But then a sudden feeling washed over both her and Brian and seemingly any animosity between them seemingly disappeared.

"Brian? I feel different," Veronica said.

"Me too," Brian agreed. "Wanna get some coffee and iced tea and catch up?"

"Sure."

With that, the two of them left the OFW lounge, with Noah smiling after them.

* * *

Meanwhile upstairs, Mark is looking around at the electronics part of the mall where he saw some high quality keyboards at the shop window. "Maybe I should buy one of those keyboards for Christmas," he wondered.

"But you already have one back home, Mark," his shooter-like figure spoke up.

"I know, but I got a strange urge to dismantle my old one when I get back, though."

Hearing this made his figure sighed in dismay. While it maybe weird for a figure to talk, he's actually Lightning Dravise, a B-Daman as one of the Dragons from another world. However in this world, he's a counterpart from one of them who lived with Mark right now as his partner and guard due to his lack of fighting skills despite being a Twilight to Marc Clark and Jerry Lewis, two skilled spies from WOOHP.

But while he has similar skills to each of them except for their abilities to physically fight, there is one secret he didn't know about: Mark had tech manipulation powers which he could use under a second, hidden personality. The reason his powers had remained a secret to him is because they had some severe cons to them; his mind would start to overflow with data, to the point that it would sever the link to his Twilight counterparts and overshadow his original personality, as well as cause him to fall into a manic PTSD state. Because of this, his detective friends, especially Samuel or Dravise couldn't tell him that he has those powers or else, he will fall into a PTSD episode once more.

But just as he was about to enter the store, he then bumped into somebody, causing them to drop the shopping bags they were holding. "Hey! Are you blind or something?!"

But when he looked up, he quickly regret at what he said when he saw Professors Oak, Elm, Birch, Rowan, and Sycamore trying to pick up the bags they accidentally dropped. However, he managed to regain his composure as he then asks, "Let me guess. Girls doing some Christmas shopping spree?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Oak said in a deadpanned tone. "We know it's a good idea to shop for presents for our family, but whenever those girls shop, we ended up with bags and backaches."

"Yeah, I don't know why girls enjoy shopping so much, and why they just have to have everything they see in the store," Elm whined.

"Yeah, frankly, there ought to be a law that bans or at the very least limits how much a girl can shop for," Oak said. "It would be a real break for us guys."

"And it'll be a chance for the ladies to focus on more important stuff," Rowan added.

"Oh, you mean like how we're on the verge of clobbering you insensitive boys," Ivy said as she, Delia, and Juniper appeared behind the boys looking very angry, which scared them.

"L-ladies, w-what a surprise!," Oak said with a sheepish smile.

"Clearly, you boys need to get a better understanding of us girls," Juniper growled.

"And what better what to do that than…," Delia started slyly.

" **SHOE SHOPPING!** ," all three girls said together.

"NOOOOOO!," the men screamed all at once.

"Oh, yeah, now come and take your punishment like the men you are!," Ivy said as the ladies pushed and dragged the men away.

But unknown to the detectives as they were dragged into a shoe store, a mysterious man with two of his henchmen overlooked the whole mall before the former pulled out a strange gun and fired it off-screen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Veronica and Brian just finished with their drinks, they were about to catch up on what they were up to all of these years, only to suddenly feel that they were being observed by someone.

"Um do you have the feeling you're being watched?," Brian said.

"Yeah, I do!," Veronica agreed as she looked around the café they were in before reaching behind the booth they were in and pulling out…

"NOAH! Get out of here!"

It revealed that Noah was still watching them TOO closely as he pouted at Veronica's order. "Come on! I know you're still in the effects of the Reuniting Chain, so I doubt you can get rid of me so easily since of an event. Besides, I still want to understand how you normal humans sustain relationships, so t-"

Before he can finish, a scream rang throughout the mall, which startled the two Ravers at it.

"What the heck?!" Veronica said before she and Brian went out of the lounge and climbed to the ground floor as Noah followed, which they saw smoke coming from the toy store and the bookstore. "That came from my favorite toy store! Nobody messes with my toy store! Noah, take care of the civilians at the bookstore, I'll take care on the guy who messed with it!"

She then dashed to the toy store, which Brian unable to stop her and sighed, "Something's never changed."

He then followed Veronica, leaving Noah behind as he said next, "Wait! What about the Reuniting Chain's effects?!"

However, he had no time to worry about that as he heard more people screaming for their lives, which he sighed in defeat before he left to save them in the bookstore.

* * *

Meanwhile, the professors, Delia, and Mark were just leaving the shoe store, with more packages than ever, when they heard the screams coming from the other side of the mall.

"Uh-oh, we got trouble!," Oak said.

"Yeah, and it's over there!," Birch pointed at the fleeing people. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light, causing the professors, Delia, and Mark to shield their eyes.

When they opened their eyes, they were shocked to see the people's clothes had changed into suits and dresses and such that seemed to be from the 1920s.

"Either we missed a memo on a public 20-themed Christmas party or somebody is messing up their wardrobe," Delia said.

"Question is who and how?" Oak wondered.

"How about those guys up there over there with that big ray gun?," Mark suggested pointing up to where the mysterious man and two henchmen were shooting off their ray gun.

"Well, that was easy," Juniper quipped.

"More so than I bet stopping him will be," Sycamore said.

"Either way, let's stop him before Larrson OR Clover noticed this fashion chaos and go berserk!" Samuel said, which gives him a few glares from the professors. "Really, I'm serious. Have you seen their eyes when they are angry?"

"Just come on already!" Delia said as she pushed him to the villain to stop him.

* * *

Meanwhile, the mystery man continued firing at patron after patron transforming their clothes into those form the 1920s era, and apparently causing them to act different too. Suddenly a blast of dark blue electricity flew over his head, causing him to stop shooting at the people.

"Sorry, sir. But your fashion choices are about a century out of date!"

Noticing that voice, the brown-suited man turned around and saw the Shadow Brigade glaring at him as Samuel pulled out his badge shouted, " **-Knights Detective Agency-**! You're under arrest!"

However without a word, the man fired a shot from his gun to the detectives only for Ivy to change her key-chain into her shield, the **-Frozen Shard-** , to reflect the blast, which ended up blasting the fern plant, causing it to fell onto a nearby shopper. Worried about her, they ran up to the shopper to check on her, which she then managed to recover, but shouted, "My antlers!"

"Your antlers?!," Rowan asked in disbelief, until he saw the antler headset she'd been wearing. "You almost got crushed by a plant and your worried about fake antlers?!"

"If I were you, I'd be more worried about my personal safety than some falsie headpiece," Sycamore said.

Offended, the shopper angrily hit both Sycamore and Rowan over the heads.

"OW! OUCH!"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY MY ANTLERS ARE SECOND PRIORITY DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!," she bellowed before getting up and storming off with her antlers in hand.

"Well, she needs a chill pill," Sycamore said.

Then, the man shoots the detectives again, which they managed to dodge as they focused back on the main culprit.

"Guys, scatter!" Samuel shouted, which they did as Mark pulled out Dravise while Delia summoned her spear to fight. However, they weren't able charge at the man or shoot him as he continued firing them even to the point the professors unable to summon their own weapons to fight as well.

Then the man suddenly turned and shot Ivy, this time hitting her before she could put her shield up again, causing it to turn back into a keychain. Then he spun and shot Elm, who had tried to pull a sneak attack on him.

Rowan, seeing Ivy get shot, then angrily charged at the man, angrily, only to be shot and hit directly.

As for the others, they were too busy dodging the man's shots to the point Samuel had enough of it as pushed the bench forward to make it as a shield and forced Delia and Mark to duck behind it while Sycamore, Juniper and Birch grabbed an unposted billboard.

Thinking he managed to shoot all of them, he snapped his fingers as he and his men vanished into thin air, which Mark noticed this.

"Guys, he's gone," he spoke up.

When Samuel stood up to check to see Mark's words were true, his eyes widened in shock and said, "Oh no..."

"What? We can just track him down with WOOHP's tracking device."

"I wasn't talking about our culprit."

The others turned and were astonished to see Ivy, Rowan, and Elm. Only they looked far different. Ivy had her hair up in a bun, and was wearing a long, blue semi-elegant '20s dress and high heels shoes. Elm now had a slicked back hair style, and wore a black and white striped suit with matching shoes. And Rowan now wore a brown suit and fedora with black shoes. All had been temporarily blinded by the blasts.

"Hey, what's happened here!," Elm asked in a Brooklyn accent as his vision recovered and he looked at Rowan and Ivy. "Oh-no!"

"Oh-no is right," said Rowan said with a Brooklyn accent as his vision recovered.

"Oh-no yourself!," Ivy snapped in a Mid-Atlantic accent. She then looked at herself and then her in a nearby metal surface.

"Oh my god, I look like how my grandmother must have dressed!," she said, slightly embarrassed.

"So much for being on the cutting edge of holiday fashion, huh?" Mark said jokingly.

"Well, I'm about to go over the edge!," Elm replied annoyed. "This has got to be the most outdated villain we've ever faced!"

"Hey, hey. Just take it easy, we'll figure out how to get out of this!," Rowan assured them, remaining calm and composed.

"Yeah. Besides, you guys don't look too bad in those outfits anyway," Samuel added to back Rowan up only for a familiar voice shouted, "Wow, you cats look ridiculous, and from me that's saying something."

When they heard this, Samuel, Mark, and Delia turned around to see Boogie Gus, who is somehow hiding behind an old science exhibit, much to his shock that his cover is blown. "Oops... Um, gotta run!"

But when he did, his eyes widened in shock and when he fell down in pain, it revealed that Veronica punched him in a gut as Brian pin him down and said as he cuffed him, "Not so fast, Gus! You have the right to remain silent!"

"We could have gotten here early if we haven't stopped those guys in suits acting like gangsters with toy lightsabers," Veronica explained.

"At least you two were lucky. We had to dodge with our lives from a mysterious villain with a ray gun," Mark explained.

When he said this, Veronica saw the three professors' changed appearances and started to laugh at them. "I can see how hard you guys dodge the cuprit's attacks. You don't want to end up wearing those outdated outfits like those three."

Offended, Elm, Ivy, and Rowan glared at the Dark Raver, which she slowly stops laughing and sheepishly said, "Although it looks great on you guys comparing to Boogie Gus's fashion choices."

"At least in the Disco era, there was something we like to call 'taste'!" Gus shouted in protest as he continued to rant about their clothes and his love of the 70's and 80's, which annoys Veronica and Brian a lot as the former pushed a button on her wrist MP3 player and a floor open up under Gus's feet, causing him to fell into it as he screamed like a little girl.

"Tell that to Sam, Clover, and Alex when you land into the interrogation room!" Veronica shouted in the hole before it closed shut.

"Until then, you guys report this to Jerry. We'll catch up once we finish helping Noah on taking care of the civilian downstairs," Brian said to the detectives before he and Veronica left them to do so.

"Right, but I think it's time we notify the rest of the KDA about this first," Samuel said. And as if right on cue, some holes opened up in the wall and sucked the Shadow Brigade plus Mark and Delia in before closing up again.

 _A/N: Whoa, I've heard of embracing the past, but this is ridiculous! Who is this mystery villain? What's his plan and motive? Will the professors be able to overcome their fashion shift to stop him? And will Noah's spell really make Veronica and Brian patch things up? Find out the answers to these and more on part 2, coming soon. Happy Holidays everyone!_


	2. Part 2 -Investigate-

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but the sneak peek is back up and running._

 _Last time, a madman started literally blasting people back to the 1920s including our three professors, and Veronica recently reconnected with one of her old teammates. What will come next? Find out in part two, now!_

 **Arcanum Heroes: Beyond Arcanum Sneak Peek**

 **Roaring X-mas Past: Part 2**

The professors fell through the tunnels and landed on the couch in Jerry's office. They looked around to see that it was decked out in Christmas decorations.

"Happy Holidays, guys, how do you like the way I decked out the office," Jerry, decked out in a red Santa suit asked. The professors looked around the office…and were shocked (and not in a good way) at what they saw.

Samuel, Delia, and Birch noticed a robotic Santa that moved around and said "Ho-ho-ho" in a slightly creepy robotic fashion.

"Suddenly, St. Nick seems a lot less jolly," Samuel said, a bit annoyed.

"You said it," Delia and Birch agreed.

Elm, Rowan, and Ivy saw a bunch of robotic elves that seemed to give off a creepy vibe with their big staring eyes and wide mouth smiles.

"Is it just me or do they remind you of certain garden gnomes?," Rowan said. Elm and Ivy only nodded.

And Mark, Sycamore, and Juniper noticed a bunch of robotic reindeer, whose heads seemed to do 360 turns.

"Okay, that there, is totally messed up," Mark said, uneasily.

"Very messed up," Sycamore said.

"Yeah, like a holiday horror movie," Juniper added.

"Jer, no offense, but should you choose some Christmas decorations that are less functional and more aesthetic?" Samuel suggested.

"Oh, come now, this is the next generation holiday décor," Jerry said. "Heck you should see the Mrs. Claus, why, she can p-"

"Please stop there, Jer... Forget what I said," the Kanto Pokemon professor interrupted, not wanted to make anything worst. "Right now, can you contact the other detectives?"

"The Kirrins are out of town visiting their relatives and Cece and Rocky are doing the same. I doubt the others would be available as well considering this holiday season," Jerry answered, which leaves the remaining detectives groaned in dismay. "Why do you ask?"

"Something really crazy just happened at the mall today!," Oak said.

"What? The girl's maxed out their credit cards Christmas shopping?"

"No! There was this big brooding guy…," Ivy said.

"And he had too others with him…," Elm said.

"And then there was a big zap…," Rowan said.

"With this giant raygun thing…"

"And then a shiny light…"

"And then everyone was dressed really strange."

Jerry looked at the three strangely, as Delia stepped up.

"Sorry about them, they've been acting a little weird since they got blasted at the mall," she told him.

"Maybe this could be just a mall promotion for the holidays," Jerry suggested.

Just then, Veronica and Brian entered his office as the former quickly said, "Well, I'd call it a bad mall promotion! There are teenagers who are acting like gangsters like you see in those old movies attacking my favorite toy store! They even shoot toy guns that hurt us for once!"

"And we even have a Turf dart bullet as proof," Brian added as he pulled out the said dart from his back.

"What?," Juniper added. "That's crazy!"

"And some of the girls are acting like a bunch damsels in distress from those old detective movies!," Brian said.

"Well most of them, some are also acting like femme fatales," Veronica added.

"Maybe it's just a bunch of kids doing a roleplay or something," Jerry suggested again.

Seeing that Jerry didn't believe their stories, everyone groaned in dismay at this. It wasn't until the Ravers noticed Jerry's Christmas decoration littered around the office and thought of something. If Jerry didn't buy some new ones for this year, maybe they should help him do so. Smiling at that same thought, they quickly grabbed his arms and started dragging him to the door.

"Well, if you don't want to believe us, maybe you should come with us for a Christmas decoration shopping spree!" Veronica declared.

"Nonsense, my robotic decorations and props are just perfect!," Jerry protested.

"Perfect? Yeah, as in 'perfectly shocking and creepy'," Brian said.

"Nothing needs to be changed, I assure you."

"Yeah, your assurance is none too reassuring for us," Veronica said as she and Brian grabbed Jerry.

"Wha-what are you doing?"

"We'll take care of Mr. Doubtful over here, you guys do what you want to do over here with the spies!" Brian said to KDA before he and Veronica dragged Jerry out of his office to shop as he continue to fail on his attempt to protest that idea.

"Thanks, guys," Samuel said to the Ravers, which he was happy that they not only working together once more, but they give them a chance to investigate this strange situation.

"Okay guys, so one minute we're on a shopping spree, and the next, we're running from a shooting spree. There's defini-"

But he was cut short when Rowan said in an even deeper Brooklyn accent, "Well we need to find a clue to this, see?"

"Yeah, we should cover as much ground as possible, boss," Elm also said in a just-as-deep Brooklyn accent.

"And I can get info out of anyone with my…little ways," Ivy said in a seductive Mid-Atlantic accent.

"Whoa, is it just me or are they getting weirder?," Mark asked. Just then, Sam, Clover, and Alex came into the office after finishing interrogating Boogie Gus.

"So, how'd it go?"

"Well, Gus keeps insisting he's not behind this," Sam said.

"And ranting about how the disco era was the most fashionable of all the eras," Alex said.

"Yeah, if you liked to be totally retro!," Clover added. "But we like, totally managed to get him to admit how he escaped WOOHP prison and all that."

"Wow, comparing to Mark's attempt to imitate a 20's singer, they're not too shabby," Delia pointed out, much to Mark's annoyance as he said, "Leave that memory alone, Ketchum."

"Um, could we get back to the case at hand please?," Sycamore asked.

"Yeah, incase you guys for got there's a madman out there with a weird raygun!," Birch added.

"That's right, and we need to work on stopping him befo-," Samuel said. He then stopped in mid-sentence as he noticed the differences on the affected professors.

"Rowan, is it me or you looked a little bit younger?" Samuel asked in shock.

"Well, I thank you for the compliment," Rowan said, not noticing that his hair was turning from grey to brunette.

"And you too, Elm."

"Wow, really? I thank yous," Elm said as he had longer hair and cooler looking glasses.

"And the same with you, Ivy."

"Well, I always knew I looked divine!," Ivy, who definitely looked younger than usual.

Now grew suspicious of this, Sam then took a strand of hair from the affected professors and used Jerry's computer to scan it.

"It's true that they are looking younger, but according to this, there are no strange substances or alterations to their DNA," Sam explained.

"Hmm... That is completely strange. Regardless, we still need to find that mystery villain and change them back to normal quickly," Samuel said, now worried that if there's a third-party force that's behind this.

Without a warning, Alex quickly jumped behind the computer and said, "Well then, one villain tracking GPS, coming up!"

She then pressed a couple of buttons, and suddenly outside there was a _whoosh_ sound and some screaming which stopped just as soon as it started.

"What did I just do?," Alex asked. Sam ran over to the door and said, "I think you just WOOHPed out Veronica, Brian, and Jerry."

"On the bright side, Veronica won't blame me for being a human crashpad this time," Samuel sheepishly said at that thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, a party was going on at the Club Fritz, a local bar, grill, and nightclub with a 1920s theme: the inside was designed as a 1920s speakeasy, with wooden carved statues, a bar on one end, a kitchen and dining area on the other, and a large dance floor in the middle. On the dance floor, as '20's swing jazz music played, people dressed up in '20s clothing were swing dancing and just having a grand time.

Just then, the same man who attacked the mall earlier walked up to the stage and grabs the '20's vintage microphone.

"Attention, everyone!," he said with a New Jersey accent. The music cut off and everyone turned towards the man onstage. "It seems the hit on the mall during the holiday shopping was a success. We'll be getting new members soon!"

Everyone cheered loudly for the man.

"We were able to convert over 200 people today, even inspite of those nine people with the color-coded winter coats, moon-like symbols, magical keychains, and toy sidekick."

When they heard the description of the people who tried to stop him, everyone quickly panicked as they get out of the seats to leave the bar. Seeing this chaos, the leader angrily shut the doors close with a swipe of his hand and strangely, the people managed to calm down when they saw this.

"What's the matter with you people?!," the man snarled angrily. Why were his patrons acting so scared?

"Those people you just mentioned, that's what," said one of his henchmen in a Brooklyn accent who was looking stuff up on a tablet. "You know the Knights Detective Agency?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, not only were those agency detectives, they were the agency's **-Shadow Brigade-** : a team made of members who are also supposedly the successors and dark counterparts of Arcanum's famous Legendary 7. They said they have dark powers just like those powerful dark heroes from the past."

"I see. But no matter, those so called legendary counterparts won't stop me, considering I blasted them with the ray earlier."

As he became confident to the thought of the so-called detectives, one of his henchman spoke up in a surprisingly modern accent, "I hate to be a bearer of bad news, sir. But you only hit three of them."

"WHAT?!"

He then grabbed the tablet from his modern henchman and was shocked to see in the footage that Samuel, Delia, Mark, Sycamore, Birch, and Juniper blocked his shots from his ray gun.

"I only got three out of nine?!," the man growled. "SON OF A DITCH! HOW DID THEY AVOID ME?! I'M GONNA TURN THEM SO FAR BACK IN TIME THEY WON'T EVEN REALIZE THEY WERE BORN!"

* * *

He then threw something from his pocket into a nearby window angrily, shattering the glass and startling everyone.

Back at WOOHP, the detectives are still waiting for the results of the GPS tracking while Sam and Clover are surprisingly play Pokemon video game with Boogie Gus over the internet as they realized he has nothing to do with the crimes due to it's theme.

In the game, Sam's Blastoise finished a battle with Boogie Gus's Graveler, knocking it out with a Hydro Pump, and winning the match.

"I won? I WON!," Sam cheered loudly. Inside Gus' cell, he had secretly been playing the same game on his computer. Needless to say, he was a sore loser over this.

"I lost? I LOST! Not solid, cat!," her said, he then jumped up and down in a fit of anger until he accidentally slipped on a piece of paper and fell flat on his back and grumble with anger.

"Who knew hanging out with greatest minds of Pokemon could have some advantages?" Clover slyly said despite what happened with her and Pokemon.

"I would tell you to let him win for a while, but I heard he has the bet unsportsmanlike craziness" Samuel asked to the girls, only an alarm interrupted their playtime, which he knew one thing as he turned serious once more. "The tracking system! It must have found the villain and his henchmen!"

"Where are they right now?" Birch asked to his colleague.

Taking a closer look at the screen, Oak then answers, "There's a disturbance at Arcanum Starlight Indoor Plaza. So chances are they'll be there."

"They're hitting another mall! Okay, that's it! No more Nice Clover!," Clover said as she lunged at the screen in her fury, only to be held back by Alex and Sam.

"Easy, Clover. Calm down!," Alex said to her friend.

"Yeah, cool it! We need you to be calm and to stay here and help us be their tech support," Sam added.

"Huh? Why me? I don't wanna stay in, I wanna go out and kick some villain butt!," Clover protested.

"They're right, Clover. Wade's on vacation right now and Jerry is out Christmas decoration shopping with his Raver teammates, so we need some mission control in order to solve this mystery," Oak added.

"Why can't Mark stay? He's the techie here?"

"Because he's part of the brigade. We need him with us."

Clover pouted and huffed, as Sam then pressed a button, revealing a table full of gadgets, and said, "And before you go, you're gonna need gadgets. Here we have PokéSmoke Balls, the Parasol Deflector, Laser Lipstick and Pen, Tracking Balls, and Ice Spray Perfume."

Everyone took a gadget: Oak took the Parasol, Dravise the Tracking Balls, Delia the Ice Spray Perfume, and everyone the PokéSmoke Balls, the Parasol Deflector, Laser Lipstick and Pen.

"Thanks, girls. And since we're going to Arcanum, I think we better get our game face on," Samuel said before he takes out his Twilight Baton and activates, changing him and his colleagues into their respective Twilight/ **-Soul Essence-** forms as Delia and Mark do the same. But as they did, they quickly noticed that Rowan, Ivy, and Elm didn't change at all, much to their confusion.

"Hey, why didn't you three transform with us?," Marcus asked.

"I dunno," Rowan said as they looked at their journals, confused.

"Maybe these things are busted or somethin'," Elm suggested.

"Either that or the changes on the villain's raygun must have blocked your Soul Essences. Regardless, we need to head over to Arcanum FAST!" Blake said before Sam pushed a button on Jerry's desk, causing the detectives to fell down on a hidden tunnel beneath them.

"Make sure they better not touch my favorite shoe store!" Clover shouted in the tunnel before it closed shut.

* * *

The detectives arrived at the mall and looked to see what damage the villain had done. They found that the internet café had been transformed into an board game store.

They found that the music store had been changed into a store that sold old time phonographs.

They saw that the toy store had been changed into a '20s one that sold only old wooden toys rathar than the technological ones of the present day.

* * *

After they scour around the mall, the detectives sat down on the stairs, not only dismayed that they didn't find their culprit, but the damages and changes in the mall.

"Okay, this is completely confusing," Marcus spoke up. "Even Dravise can't track this guy through this mess, and he's the best at tracking!"

"On the other hand, Clover's favorite shoe store is still in tact. At least that's good news," Whitney said as she remembered what Clover asked them.

"And the only worst news is that Koto's brownie store became a bread bakery," Blake said, reffering to his Komory Bat and his obsession with chocolate. "At least he's also out of town with Teno to go to that kid city-themed role-playing park. That will give us more time to fix all of this."

"I know, I mean attacking one mall is being a skeeze, but two malls is just bein' a donkey door!," Roman said.

"And what happened to all the internet cafés?," Ivy said.

"They didn't exist back in the '20s, remember? Heck the internet didn't even exist back then," Blake reminded them.

"Well, ain't that just a big fat drag," Elm growled.

"I know. I hate the pre-technology era," Rowan added.

"I do too, but there's no time to groan about that," Whitney reminded them. "We're on the job, remember?"

"Hey, look," Cai said as she point over towards a store. Everyone looked to see two people that looked similar to Blaine and Dane Dunston, dressed in 1920s boy and girl's clothing, leaving a changed clothing store.

"Whoa, they could be like the Dunstons' older siblings," Nal remarked.

But upon a closer look to them, Blake realized who they really are and said, "That's because THEY are the Dunstons! Figures, I'm not surprised at their appearance in Arcanum considering they spend the holidays travelling rather than staying home."

Just then, the twins overheard the **-Black Detective's-** rant and approached them in a spoiled rich kid manner.

"Nice threads…for some old codgers!," Blaine mocked Rowan, Ivy, and Elm in a Mid-Atlantic accent.

"Yeah, is the thrift store having it's annual clearance sale or something?," Dane added, also in a Mid-Atlantic accent.

"Have you two looked in a mirror lately?" Tal chuckled as Nal and Cai activate the HoloMirror app from the DXCOM to let the Dunstons see what happened to them. But as they looked through it, they instead focused on their outfits instead of their faces and became enamoured by them.

"Wow, we've got to have these mirrors!," Blaine said in awe.

"Yeah, they've taken our personal complexions to a whole new level!," Dane added.

"Hey, you can't have our DXCOMs, you two!" Cai protested.

"Yeah, it's for KDA personal only!" Nal added.

"But we want them!," Dane snapped.

"So give 'em!," Blaine snarled. He then tried to grab the DXCOM from Nal, while Dane grabbed Cai. Both sides struggled for it (with Tal assisting Nal against Blaine), until the DXCOMs slipped out of their hands, flew into the air, opened up and landed back down, causing the Dunstons to see their full older-looking appearances in the res.

"EEEKKK! What happened to us?!"

"We look so old, so hideous! Don't look at at us!"

As the twins grew terrified at their now older appearances, Blake shouted to his friends, "Guys, siphon and crystallize little of their **-Souls-** for analysis! Maybe we can get better results than a DNA test."

Nal nodded with a smile before he used his powers to absorb some of the energies from the Dunstons, causing them to feel woozy while Cai transformed them into two dark green marble-like orbs that landed on Nal's hand. As the Dunstons grew dizzy and fatigue, Cai then says, "It's for your own good."

"What happened?," Blaine asked.

"I don't feel so good," Dane added. The two then stumbled away before fainting near the detectives

"Good job, guys. Now try to siphon Rowan, Ivy, and Elm's **-Souls-** as well," Blake said to his friends, however the affected detectives reacted in dissatisfaction.

"No way, José!," Elm snapped.

"Forget it!," Ivy shouted.

"Not happening!," Rowan finished as they all tried to cover themselves. Blake rolled his eyes in annoyance as he said, "Nal. Cai."

Nal once again nodded before he used his powers to absorb some of the energies from Elm, Ivy, and Rowan, and Cai transformed them into turquoise, dark purple, and light green orbs. The three professors were left dizzy and disoriented as the Dunstons were.

"Oh, why us?," they all said together woozily.

After Nal grabbed the turquoise, dark purple, and light green orbs, Marcus took out Dravise and said, "Dravise, I'm linking you to WOOHP once more for this."

He then replaced his back part with a WOOHP gadget version of it and connected it through his DXCOM before he put the crystallized **-Souls-** in the loading chamber of Dravise and called the girls back at WOOHP.

"Sam, I'm sending you the energy data from Dravise right now," Marcus said.

 _"Alright, I got it. Give me one second..."_ Sam said as she typed through Jerry's computer to find out more about the analysis.

But as they waited, Blake felt a tap on his shoulder, which he guessed it was the twins again as he turned around and said, "Hey, didn't you two just faint and left already?"

However, his annoyance turned into shock when he found himself at gunpoint as he saw the Dunstons clothing had changed into a 1920s gangster suit and dress respectively.

"Hey you! Give us that bracelet you got there!," Blaine said with a Mid-Atlantic accent.

"And make it snappy unless you wanna get hurt!," Dane added, also with a Mid-Atlantic accent.

"Uh... No," Blake said in a deadpanned tone before his hands glowed in purple, which caused the twins to fell unconscious once more. "Okay, call me crazy, but aren't those twins supposed to be acting spoiled and rich with English accents and not Mid-Atlantic?"

Just then, Sam gasped at the results and said through Marcus's DXCOM, _"I think I know the answer. I've just got the results of the_ _ **-Souls-**_ _analysis!"_

"Go ahead."

 _"Not only the ray's effects reversing the aging process on the professors, but also has a mind control aura that can alter a person's mindset back in the 20's,"_ she explained.

"I see, but how is it our personality has for the most part remained intact?" Elm asked.

"It must be our darkness. It's shielding us from any major changes the rays effects have on us," Rowan guessed.

"Or at the very least, it's making the effects go at a slower rate!" Ivy said

"But that doesn't explained why the Dunstons are aging up instead of down and why they are suddenly acting like gangster duo like Bonnie and Clyde," Nal asked.

 _"That's because the ray put an opposite effect on younger victims and they are unaware the fact they have just been hit a few hours and they succumbed the effects of the ray. And here come the bad news, if we don't turn the victims back to normal for much longer, they will stuck in a mind of a 20's stereotype personality, with or without the mind control resistance!"_

"In other words, the effects will stay permanent if we leave these victims longer. Which means, we don't have a lot of time left!" Blake said in a serious tone.

"Then we need to find that guy and fast!," Nal said.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go get his butt, and get it good!," Elm snapped.

"Hang on, Elm! If we want to find that suited guy again, we need to figure out where he is right now," Cai reminded them until Clover popped in the screen and said, _"I think I know. Club Fritz, the hippest and hottest nightclub that will give you the nostalgic feeling of the 20's! I just found this flyer beforehand and I thought it might be a link to all of this."_

When they saw the said flyer, Blake knew Clover had find the right lead as he smiled at this. "You didn't just found a link. You just found us a big lead! Let's go for it!"

* * *

Meanwhile Veronica Brian, and Jerry were still Christmas decoration shopping in the mall. Unfortunately, it wasn't going too well as Jerry continued to pick out bad decorations, such as tacky, overdone wreaths, robotic elves, and even a big Santa balloon large enough to be in a small parade.

"Great, even after the Fusions, Jerry is still have bad tastes on interior designing!" Veronica said in frustration as she watched him looking for another set of decorations.

"Yeah, remember that mission when we went undercover as mimes?," Brian agreed.

"Don't remind me," Veronica said.

* * *

 _Flashback:_

 _Veronica and Brian are undercover in the mall as mime entertainers, and they see Jerry coming out of several stores with wallpaper, paint, and wall ornaments that Veronica grimaces at due to her finding them tacky._

* * *

"Yeah, well you looked dreadful as a mime," Brian said.

"You're one to talk. What about that cosplay troupe when you dressed up in tights?," Veronica asked.

"And saved your butt in the process."

* * *

 _Flashback:_

 _Veronica and Brian are fighting off some mysterious men who ambushed a cosplay troupe. One of the men grabs and restrains Veronica from behind, only to be grabbed from behind, pryed off, and roundhouse kicked away by Brian._

* * *

"Oh, yeah. Never thanked you for that," Veronica said.

"Actually, you did in the next mission, when you saved me from falling to my doom off that cliff."

* * *

 _Flashback:_

 _Brian struggles with a couple of henchmen on top of a driverless car. The car heads towards a cliff, causing the men to bail out. Brian can only stand frozen in fear as the car flew off the cliff's edge. Just as it did though, Veronica flew in on a glider and grabbed Brian just in time._

* * *

"Yeah, we had some good times together," Veronica stated with a smile.

"Very good times," Brian said also smiling.

As they are starting to smile at the memories, Noah secretly came out of a basket cart as he gave a toothy smile at this sight.

Just then Jerry came walking up with even more tacky Christmas decorations.

"So any suggestions on my picks?," he asked.

"Just one..."

All of the sudden, Veronica hit Jerry with a roundhouse kick as a bright white ray quickly passed him before she and Brian ducked out of the way.

"Don't lose your fashion sense over a distraction," Veronica said with a mischievous smirk, which Jerry glared at her while Brian's rolls his eyes at this.

* * *

At in front of a club entrance, a black van pulled over before a periscope popped out at the top of the van as the detectives looked through the van's computer screen.

"There it is, Club Fritz. The biggest 20s themed club around. As well as the hardest-to-get-into. There are only two was in: reservation and secret password. But reservations are very hard to get and long to wait for. And no time to learn the password. And we can't try to fool our way in. They are strict on security and will immediately toss out any posers," Elm said when they quickly heard a scream, which Blake turned around and saw a group of kids got kicked out by the bouncers, much to his shock.

"Don't forget strict with kids and not afraid to literally kick them out," Blake added.

"Guess the only way in is by sneaking in, huh?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah, but we need someone inside the club for distraction and surveillance. If a bouncer gets inside at the back without warning, we're in big trouble."

"We got Rowan, Elm, and Ivy since they already looked the part, but we need more people just in case," Nal suggested.

"Well, then who else is gonna stand guard," Whitney asked.

"Yeah, just two will do, but who?," Marcus put in.

But as soon they asked, the others stared at them with mischievous grins on their faces.

* * *

Before they knew it, the two were not only back into their normal forms, but Delia was wearing a plum knee-length dress, with a matching boa, bonnet hat, and high heels, and some makeup while Mark is wearing a light blue zoot suit, tie, shoes, and fedora, much to their horror.

"We're going in there as a couple?!" Mark shouted in anger. "Are you nuts?!"

"Hey, beats going in there without a valid reason. At least this is the only way you won't mock Delia and I as a couple," Blake said.

"Point taken, but do I have to act like I'm in love with HIM?!" Delia protested.

"And why should I pretend I'm in love with HER?!," Mark snapped.

"What? You got a problem with me?!"

"Only 'cause you seem to have a problem with me!"

The two then found themselves in a major shouting argument, until Nal let out a big whistle, silencing them.

"ENOUGH!," he shouted. "We don't have time for petty bickering! Now shake hands and let's get going!"

"But he/she-," they both tried to protest.

"I said SHAKE!"

Startled, Mark and Delia stopped screaming and shook hands with each other.

"All right, let's get in there and see if we can find our villain," Blake said before he and his friends got out of the van to start investigating, unknown to them that they are being watched by a surveillance camera attached at the other side of the street's walls.

* * *

Inside the nightclub, Mark, Delia, Rowan, Elm, and Ivy were not only surprised at the 20's themed interior, but also how many people are enjoying the club as they danced to the jazz music and enjoying themselves.

"Wow, who've thought a club with a 1920s theme would be so popular in modern times," Mark said.

"I agree. So now we-," Delia said before turning and noticing that Rowan, Elm, and Ivy were gone. "Hey, where'd they go?"

"Try over there," Mark said as he took notice of the trio, who had become distracted by the music and were now on the dance floor grooving it up; Elm was dancing with Ivy, and Rowan was dancing with a random girl.

Annoyed by how easily they'd gotten distracted, Mark and Delia dragged the professors as the former said, "Guys, I know you were able to resist most of the brainwashing, but SNAP YOURSELVES OUT OF IT!"

"Besides, we're looking out for some guards getting inside the back so the others can search without any problems," Delia added.

"Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves," Rowan said.

"Yeah, this music is just so swing, you know?," Ivy added.

"You guys should try it out," Elm finished.

"Uh, we're on a mission, so no," Mark said. Delia then used her Earring Communicator.

"Blake, are you guys in yet, cause we are," she said.

* * *

At some kind of hallway inside the same nightclub, Blake, Tal, Nal, and Cai are quietly sneaking through it when the former heard a beeping noise on his blue eyepiece attached to his ear, which he then heard Delia's voice.

"Yeah, we're in," Blake said when he and his group find some guards roaming around the hallway. "But with these many guards in here, we doubt we can find any rooms of our interest in time."

"Too bad we don't have anything in our gear to distract these thugs," Nal added.

"Maybe we can just knock them out," Tal said as he quietly turned his keychain into three bladed claws on his hands decorated in green flames and a moon carved on the front. "Besides, we have dark powers to use on those guys, right?"

"No, we should cause a distraction," Nal said. "What we need here is brains, not brawn."

"Oh, come on. Like brains are gonna get us past those guys!"

"With time, yes."

"We don't have that kind of time, brainiac!"

The two then found themselves in a quiet, overlapping argument, until Cai slapped them over the head.

"Would you two shut it!," Cai said. "The last thing we need now is a big gathering of guards coming after us!"

"A big gathering, huh?" Blake repeated, realizing he got an idea to get past them.

* * *

Back in the club, Mark, Delia, and the professors continued to look around. Mark was looking around the stage, when suddenly one of the guards grabbed his shoulder.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!," he quickly snapped.

"You bet you didn't do it. You're up next on stage in two minutes!," the guard said.

"What-no! I'm not a performer!"

"Then what's with the light blue suit? All singers in this club wear light colored suits."

"Since when?"

"Since always! Now get!"

Before Delia, the professors, or Mark knew it, the latter was shoved onstage, and encased in spotlight. Everyone turned to see him and immediately, he froze in shock out of stage fright. Delia immediately contacted Blake with her Communicator.

"Blake, we have a problem: the guards mistook Mark for a performer, and now he's onstage frozen from stage fright. I gotta get him out of there!," she said quietly.

 _"No! Don't get him off of the stage, join him!"_ Blake said through her Communicator.

"What?! Are you crazy?" Delia whispered.

 _"Trust me, if I know those guards are crazy on crazy acts just like in the 20's, I know they will be distracted enough to get out of their shift. Just... Both of you put on as BIG as an act you can imagine."_

"I certainly hope you know what you're doing!," Delia said as she rushed onto the stage before the guards can stop them.

"Uh, ladies and gentlemen, here's a special song from us to all of you," she said as she whispered something into the DJ's ear. He nodded and put on a certain song which started to play on the speakers.

"What are you doing?," Mark said through his teeth.

"Just go with it," Delia replied as everyone started to dance and she started to sing:

 **Delia** : _I ain't got time for you baby_

 _Either you're mine, or you're not_

 _Make up your mind sweet baby_

 _Right here, right now's all we got_

 _A little party never killed nobody_

 _So we gon' dance until we drop, drop_

 _A little party never killed nobody_

 _Right here, right now's all we got_

Following this, the music really picked up as the whole club burst into dance, even Mark as he starting singing beside Delia.

* * *

The sounds of the party reached downstairs, which the guards quickly heard.

"Whoa, now that sounds like a party up there," one guard said.

"Yeah, and without jazz. Strange, but impressive!," another added..

"Let's check it out!," the leader put in, as the guards left their positions to go to the party, at which Blake and the others came out of hiding.

"Thank goodness for stupid henchmen," Blake muttered before he and his group went through the hallway to start investigating.

Right then and there, the group began opening up doors all around the hallway, looking for anything interesting in the rooms. They were unsuccessful until finally, they came to a door which was locked and had an electronic password lock on it.

"Well, looks like we found our room."

"But how do we get in there?," Tal asked.

"Leave that to me," Blake said as he took out his Memorilizer, which he now call it the **–Memory Keyhole-** and inserted the Viral Soul medal, transforming himself; however, instead of the cyberpunk clothing, this time he wore a black jumpsuit with purple data markings on it. He then used the device on his wrist to hook up to the electronic lock and hacked through it, unlocking the door.

Blake then opened the door and there the group saw it was an office that looked like that off a Mafia boss from the 1920s.

As they looked around, Blake noticed worn out journal in the table as he opened it to read the contents.

"Hmm," he said as he started to read. " _Nov. 13, 1920: Warren G. Harding elected president of United States._ "

"That's not right. Harding was elected on November 3rd, not 13th," Nal corrected.

" _Feb. 28_ _th_ _, 1925: the Philippines sends diplomats on its first independence mission to the USA._ "

"No, the year was 1919, not 1925," Tal corrected.

" _July 1_ _st_ _, 1928: the Philippine Organic Act passes in Congress._ "

"Nuh-uh, it was 1902 that it passed," Cai said. "Hate to say this, but it sounds like this journal is fake."

However, Blake started to grow suspicious at the journal when he looked at it's condition and said, "If it was faked, then how come these pages looked like they were aged years ago?"

"Um... Tea and crumpled papers?"

Just then Tal noticed something in the room: a camera-like device which was still on and running.

"Hey, guys check out this camera!," Tal said as he called them over to the device. "Doesn't look like any digital or electronic camera I've ever seen… Which reminds me, did you disable all security cameras already?"

But when he took a closer look at it, Blake's eyes widened in horror and shouted, "That's because that one doesn't electronics!"

Before they can act, it fired four beams on the detectives, which not only changed them back to normal, but also put Oak out of his Viral Soul.

"Oh-no, we've been changed back!," Birch said. "Even Oak!"

"That camera must be a Shadow Reverter!," Juniper said.

"Right you are, bimbo."

They turned around and saw the mystery man standing in the doorway with his ray gun in hand.

"And you're all busted!," the man said as he then fired a beam at them.

"No!," Birch shouted as he jumped in front of them causing him to be hit and knocked out.

"Birch!," Sycamore cried, just before the man quickly shot him and Juniper next, rendering them unconscious next.

As he was horrified that his friends are shot, Oak angrily looked around and shouted, "Who are you?! What do you want from all of this?!"

"Oh, you'll find out in due time **-Black Detective-.** All in due time." the man said. Oak reached for his **-Twilight Baton-** , but the man quickly raised the ray gun, and said, "I don't think so."

Oak looked up at the man, only for everything to be engulfed in white light and then go black with a scream…

* * *

Which was heard by Delia via her Earring Communicator upstairs at the still-going party.

"Mark!," she shouted as she grabbed Mark's sleeve to get his attention. "Oak and the others are in trouble! We gotta go!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth!," Mark agreed. But as they tried to get off the stage, they were halted by the guards.

"And just where do you think you're going?," one guard said.

"Oh, actually we need to take a short break. You know, resting our vocals and all," Delia said in a best 20's accent she can think of, much to Mark's dismay.

"Oh-no, you don't. You've boosted this club's party so much! You're now the place's lead singers."

"But you don't understand we have to-," Mark started to say, until the lead guard cracked his knuckles threateningly.

"I'm sure you two don't have a problem with that, right?," he said with a snarl.

"Uh, no. Not at all/Of course not!," both Mark and Delia said with sheepish smiles, which soon turned into worried looks, as now they and their friends were all in big trouble.

 _A/N: Uh-oh, the Brigade's in trouble! Who's this madman? What does he want? What is his obsession with the 1920s? Will the guys escape his clutches? Find out on the finale of our sneak peek, next time!_


End file.
